Mother Nature Has Delayed the Completion of the Main Street Bridge Project in Durham

Friday, August 30, 2013

RALEIGH — Mother Natureis
affecting the progress on the N.C. Department of Transportation project to
replace the Main Street bridge over Campus Drive in Durham. It serves as the
main link between Duke’s East and West Campuses.

A $1.9 million contract was awarded to replace the 63-year-old bridge
with a structure that meets current design standards, including a higher
clearance over Campus Drive.

The work was expected to take 130 days from its May 13 start, but because
of issues with all the rainy weather the area has had this summer, the project
is now expected to wrap up in late October.

The project has Main Street closed at Buchanan Boulevard, east of the
bridge. Traffic on the other side is able to access Southgate Circle. The Campus
Drive underpass is open to two-lane, two-way traffic and will remain so unless
work activities require a closure, and that would be limited to between 8 p.m.
and 6 a.m.

Traffic has been routed around the closure:

Drivers
going east on Main Street will take Swift Avenue to the Durham Freeway
(N.C. 147) to Chapel Hill Street (Exit 13) to Duke Street to Main Street;

Drivers
going west on Main Street will take Gregson Street to Chapel Hill Street
to the Durham Freeway to Swift Avenue (Exit 14) to Main Street; and

Trucks
going South on Gregson Street will take Peabody Street to Main Street to
Buchanan Boulevard to Chapel Hill Street to the Durham Freeway to Swift
Avenue.

All detour and bus routes for the City of Durham’s Bull City Connector
and the Duke campus bus service will remain the same.

NCDOT
reminds motorists to watch for signs for construction information, stay alert
and obey the posted speed limit, and would like to thank the traveling public
for its continued patience during construction.

The
bridge replacement is part of a series of improvements made along more than a
mile of Main Street, including resurfacing and the addition of bike lanes.
About 12,600 vehicles a day use this stretch of Main Street.